Short stories

The Day We Met Again

What if I just jump? Would I be with her again? Is there a heaven where we could meet? I looked up, but the tops of the skycrapers faded away before my eyes. They were filled with tears and the only question I had in my mind was: Why has he done this to her? She was innocent.

Until yesterdays' morning, my life was okay, even almost perfect. But one moment changed it all forever. My wife called me in office like she did every day shortly before she went to work. That day something was different, I heard it in her voice, it was too soft and shaky. In the background there was a loud noise I couldn't identify. "Where are you, honey?", I asked her but she didn't answer my question. She only whispered: "I'm sorry, I can't keep on doing this." and then she turned off her phone. In this moment I suddenly knew where I heard this noise before. It was a strong breeeze, like an open window or on a rooftop.

I started running home, we just lived a few blocks away. While I ran, I tried to reach her again, but only the voicemail answered. I sprinted up the stairs, the elevator didn't work. In the rush I had left the door key somewhere, for better or for worse I had to break into our own flat. At least that's what I thought before I saw the door was a crack wide open. I kicked it open and my stomach turned at this sight.

My wife stood there at the open ground leveled window and was clinging to the window frame. She turned her head in my direction and stared at me. When I tried to walk in, she cried: "Run! Please! Or he's going to kill us both!" Tears went down her cheeks and she seemed to be afraid of something. Then I saw the huge man who was pointing a gun at her. I stood where I was, afraid to move. He looked at my wife and told her: " This wasn't what you were supposed to say, sweetheart. Stick to your lines." "Please, I don't want to say it.", she replied to him very quietly with tears in her eyes. As an answer he held the gun at my direction and my wife screamed: "No! Please, let him go. I do everything you want me to." "Just say your damn lines.", he repeated himself with anger in his voice. She looked at me again and said: "I should tell you, you were the reason why his wife died and now he'll take revenge on you. I love you, darling." I needed one moment to realize what she meant and then it was to late. He pushed her out the window and she disappeared from my sight with a scream.

I could move again and ran to the man even though he still pointed his weapon at me. He had just murdered my innocent wife in front of me. If he killed me too, I would be okay with that. But he didn't seem to have the intention to shoot. He let me get within a foot and then he knocked me out with the handle of his weapon. I had no chance to attack this monster.

I woke up by a noisy siren und recognized, that I was in an ambulance. What happened? What time is it? They asked me questions but I couldn't remember anything except that I was at work this morning. Everything after that was blurred. As if the paramedic knew it, he immediatly stopped asking me. I had a feeling that he hid something from me. I wanted to ask him how the hell I landed here, but inside me I knew, I didn't want to hear the answer.

At the hospital a police officer besides a doctor was waiting for me. The paramedic shortly explained my situation. I interrupted them while they were walking down the floor with me and asked with a shaky undertone in my voice: "Where is my wife? Did you call her?" But before he could answer my questions, everything went black around me again. The next time I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. I turned my head carefully to look at the door. Behind the glass plate I could watch the usual hectiness in a hospital but I wasn't interested in it. The doctor walked in and told me, that I'm going to be fine and I'll remember what happened this day. But he couldn't answer my questions. He didn't know where my wife was and what had happened to me in the time I had forgotten.

The police officer was for my security behind the door, he said to me. Why he needed to protect me, I didn't know. He wanted to question me, but the doctor forbade him until the next day. It was really hard for me keeping my eyes open, I was very exhausted. All I wanted was sleep. I missed my wife at my side. 

That night was going to be the last I could ever sleep peacefully. I woke up in the middle of the night. When I turned my head to the left I saw her. My wife was sitting next to my bed. I smiled and tried to grab her hand but I couldn't catch her. She watched me and said sadly: "You need to remember, darling." I blinked and she was just gone. In this moment I was evocative of the morning, her death and the eyes of the monster, which had taken her away from me. My eyes were filled with tears and I started crying.

After I had calmed down a little, I tried to think clearly. I had to get out of here and find the killer but at first I needed to put on some normal clothes. In my nightstand I found my things in a bag of evidence. I opened it up and got dressed. When I got up I felt sick for a moment, but I forced myself to continue my plan. The police officer outside the door had fallen asleep a while ago, so I was able to disappear unnoticed.

I ran out into the street and the bright streetlight blinded me. It confused me for a moment but I kept on walking. Where should I go? I had our flat in my mind, even though I was sure it was still a crime scene. I didn't have a clue, where I should go instead, so I gave it at least a try.

I supposed I offered a very peculiar sight. I still felt ill at regular intervals and I also had a stabbing headache. Therefore I stumbled down the road with a bloodied jacket and a big Band-Aid on my head. But nobody stopped me or noticed me at least. I think, I walked for hours and some completely wrong ways but I got home before the sun rose. It was about 4am when I stood there in front of our house and sunk in thoughts. I turned my sight off the skyscrapers and whiped away my tears. My wife was dead and what did I do? Nothing! I couldn't save her and now I was lost, too.

I was strong enough to climb the stairs to our flat, but then I had to lean against the wall cause everything was spinning in my head. As I saw the door, my brain stopped working. I ran into the flat no matter how sick I felt. Furthermore I ignored the sealing of the police and just ripped it off. The window was closed and I crashed down at the floor before I could reach it. I tried to stand up again and I succeeded.

I opened it completly absent-minded and only stared down. It was too dark to see the ground. I thought about it, could I go back to her like that? I was sure, she never wanted me to end my life like this but she wasn't here to stop me. I had no idea how to move on with my life. My wife was my everything and now she was gone and had left me here alone. She had left me in a world without her, a world I never wanted to live in. I looked up the stars, it was beautifully depressing. I had always watched them on my birthday with her in my arms. We heard our wedding song and she sang along. These were the happiest moments of my life and all I wanted, was to feel it again, only for one last time. I just stood there with blowing hair and cried alone in the dark night. "If you could see me now, honey, would you stop me?", I said softly.

At this moment I knew, this day was going to be the day we met again and I was right.